Definitions Of Love: Clumsy
by Mac-alicious
Summary: During their friendship Scorpius had picked up on a peculiar quirk of Rose's. She was more than just a little clumsy and uncoordinated. And maybe it rubbed off on him a little bit. Scorpius and Rose stumble along trying to find their way to each other.


Definitions Of Love: Clumsy

**A/N: **This is my latest DoL, and my first HP DoL. It actually turned out to be quite different from any of my other DoLs, but I really enjoyed writing it and that makes me happy because I've been so disappointed with most of my work lately. Well, I hope you enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own HP.

**Definitions Of Love: Clumsy**

**Clumsy (adj) 1: lacking dexterity, nimbleness, or grace 2: not tactful or subtle 3: awkward or inefficient in use or construction. Synonyms: awkward, gawky, uncoordinated, maladroit, unwieldy**

The first time Scorpius Malfoy met Rose Weasley, she was leaving the library, trying to juggle a mountain of books. His first thought was wondering what she could possibly need all those books for when they haven't even had their first class of term yet. Then she tripped and the books went flying in every direction across the floor. Scorpius rushed forward to help her. He grabbed a few books as he moved toward her. He held them out to her as she finished gathering up the rest and stood. She looked at him with wide eyes as she took back her books.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy," Scorpius said as he fell into step beside her.

She nodded, and continued walking, "I know."

"Oh," Scorpius frowned, "And you are?"

"Pardon me," She responded. She tilted her books to one side to offer him her hand. "Rose Weasley."

Scorpius took her hand and shook it firmly. When he released it, Rose nearly tipped over again. With seeker reflexes that would eventually earn him a spot on the Slytherin Quidditch team, he was able to catch a hold of her and put her right on her feet. Rose smiled sheepishly as she offered him her thanks, but seeing the genuine smile on his face kept the blush from rising in her cheeks and helped her to not feel too embarrassed.

"Can I help?" Scorpius offered, gesturing toward her stack of books.

"That would be lovely, thank you." Rose nodded, and she forgot completely about all her father had said about the young Malfoy.

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Since the day Scorpius had met Rose outside the library that fateful day, he had spent a lot of free time in her company. Some people thought it was strange that a Slytherin and a Gryffindor could get along so well. Her cousins James and Albus had given him odd looks the first time he came up to Rose in the corridors. They didn't mind the attention, though, because they enjoyed each other's company too much to care what people thought.

As he got to know her and spent more time with her, Scorpius picked up on a particular quirk of Rose's: she was more than just a little clumsy and uncoordinated. Since the start of term he had seen her knock over her ink numerous times; trip over, what appeared to everyone else to be, nothing countless times; and accidentally hit, run over, knock over or kick nearly everyone in their year—each and every time muttering an "I'm sorry" as she flushed bright red all the way up to her ears. Scorpius didn't really mind the peculiarity, in fact it could be quite amusing sometimes.

It isn't until their first flying class with Madame Hooch that he learned that the clumsiness wasn't the peculiar thing about Rose, that just who she was. It was the way she was nothing close to uncoordinated once she was on a broom that was abnormal.

Scorpius had been able to fly on a full size broom for years—his father had made sure of that. As Rose mounted her own broom with ease beside him, he realized her father must have done the same. As the class began to hover a little higher and steer around in small circles, he was amazed. He wasn't sure what he expected—for her to shakily zoom off into the trees or something equally clumsy—but it wasn't this. Rose easily guided her broom in circles, dipped lower and angled herself to pick up altitude. She seemed to do it all with little thought, as if it was second nature to her. Rose might have had the tendency to trip over her own feet while on solid ground, but in the air, she was the most graceful think Scorpius had ever seen.

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In their third year, they got caught out past curfew and were issued detention. While serving it in the Forbidden Forest, Scorpius was in a foul mood. He kept grumbling something about how it was Rose's fault out of bed and how he shouldn't have to trek through the Forbidden, _Forbidden_ Forest looking for some plant for their Potions class. Even when Rose joyfully exclaimed that she had found a patch of the needed plant and disappeared through the trees out of his sight. Scorpius did not budge.

Then there was a bright flash of fire and Rose returned with soot covering her face and the edges of her hair singed, a couple of strands still on fire. Scorpius couldn't stifle the laughter that bubbled up in his throat. Rose did not look amused in the slightest.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked through his laughter.

"An unfortunate encounter with the last remaining Blast-Ended Skrewt," Rose answered as she reached up to put out the flame still going in her hair. She pushed the plants into his hands, "There you go. Enough for the whole class, now you can stop your bloody whining."

Scorpius choked on his laughter, "I was not whining!"

"If you say so, Score," Rose responded as they followed their professor out of the woods.

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Hogwarts had held a Victory Ball every year since the Light had won the Final Battle within its walls. As per tradition, the Head Boy and Girl would lead a dance to open the ball, accompanied by all the Houses' Prefects—each to be partnered with a member of a different house. It was Rose's first year as a Prefect and she was lucky enough to be partnered with Scorpius. Scorpius felt the opposite about the matter. He felt it was unfortunate because no matter what they did, she continued to tread on his feet throughout their rehearsals. The professor that was instructing them had completely given up on her.

"It's useless," Rose announced as she and Scorpius left the empty classroom that had served as a makeshift rehearsal room. "I have absolutely no coordination to speak of and I just can't do it."

"That's nonsense, Rosie. We just have to keep practicing. We'll get it right. It'll be fine." Scorpius tried to reassure her.

"_You'll _be fine," Rose corrected. "You know how to dance all those fancy dances. You know where to put your feet and all that. I'm a disaster and I'm only making you look terrible."

"That's not true," Scorpius shook his head. "You could never make me look bad."

"We've been practicing this _one_ dance for nearly two weeks, and all I've managed to accomplish is being able to step on your feet to the beat of the music and setting the record for the longest time spent blushing," Rose said, her hands finding her hips as she turned to Scorpius. "I'm certainly not making you look _good_."

Right then and there, Scorpius took it upon himself to make sure she was ready for the ball. "We'll work in a couple private practices. I promise you, Rose, we'll have you dancing like an angel by the ball."

Rose gave him a pointed look, "So I can blame you completely if I fail tremendously?"

"Yes, I'll take full responsibility."

"You have no idea what you just got yourself into."

"I was thinking the same thing myself."

The next evening Rose and Scorpius found a deserted classroom to practice in. After an hour with no improvement, Rose was getting frustrated. But Scorpius wasn't giving up yet, so she had no excuse to leave. He allows her a short break before her pulls her back into the middle of the room to try again. He started to count off the steps, but as they got to the first turn she stumbled.

"Rose, let me lead," Scorpius said firmly. "You want to pull in one direction and we're supposed to be going in the other. That's why you're tripping. If you let me lead you, and you follow, you'll have less trouble. Just trust me, I'll lead you in the right direction. Trust me."

"Okay," Rose nodded, surprised by the intensity in his voice when he said the last part.

"Let's try again," Scorpius responded, nodding curtly.

They moved back to the middle of the room. She stood in front of Scorpius to let him take her hand. His arm went around her waist and pulled her closer. She placed her other hand on his shoulder. On his word, they began the dance. Rose resisted the urge to think about which direction she should be going and just matched Scorpius's movement. It worked out splendidly. Until she got so excited that she had made a full rotation without stumbling or knocking them both over and lost her count, coming down hard on one of his feet.

"It's okay," Scorpius assured, and rather than stopping he kept them moving. "Just remember the count. One, two, three and four, five, six, seven and eight."

Rose kept her eyes on Scorpius as she repeated the count to herself. He twirled them around the room, and a smile broke out on her face. Scorpius smiled back—he loved to see her so happy. He pulled her in from the last turn and she laughed joyfully.

"I did it!" Rose exclaimed. "You're a miracle worker, Score!"

"I didn't do anything special," Scorpius shook his head.

"Nonsense," Rose responded. "You did something. I can hardly believe it. We've been working on this for weeks with nothing and one private practice with you and it's a hundred percent improvement."

Scorpius smiled, "Let's run through it a couple more times. We want you to look like perfection at the ball."

And she did look like perfection. Each Prefect was dressed to match their House's colors. In her scarlet robes, Rose looked absolutely amazing and matched with Scorpius in his deep Slytherin green robes, no one could take their eyes off them as they swept around the floor in perfect synchronization. They made it look effortless.

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To no one's surprise, Rose was selected as Head Girl and Scorpius was the choice for Head Boy. For the past few months they had been sharing a common room and dormitory. The close proximity had accelerated the feelings that Scorpius had for Rose. They had been coming on slowly since the day he helped pick up her books outside the library—but the last couple months they had grown so strong that he was having trouble ignoring them. He had to ignore them, though, because Rose's friendship was the most important thing in his life. He wouldn't do anything to ruin that.

As their last year at Hogwarts began to draw to a close, Scorpius was faced with a decision. He could tell Rose how he felt and risk the relationship he did have with her. Or he could refrain from revealing his feelings and miss one of his last opportunities to tell her. He didn't know what would happen after Hogwarts and the only way to ensure she would be part of his future was to take action while he had a chance. So he made a decision.

He found Rose in their common room, surrounded by books, rolls of parchment, quills and bottles of ink, along with an assortment of other things cluttering up their small coffee table. She had her hair tied up and she was chewing on the end of her quill as she sat reading one of her texts. N.E.W.T.s were fast approaching and Rose was endlessly studying to ensure she aced all of her exams. Scorpius had to hold back a laugh at the sight of her—she was so adorable when she became obsessive.

"You're already going to pass all of your exams with flying colors and you surpassed my mental capacity, hmm, _seven_ years ago. I don't see any reason why you need to study anymore." Scorpius finally spoke up.

Rose gave a small start at the sound of his voice. When she looked up to see him, she smiled, "Have you met my mum?"

"No," Scorpius answered honestly.

"Well you should," Rose responded, "You'd understand."

Scorpius laughed and then swallowed as he remembered why he wanted to talk to Rose. He wiped his hands on his robes as he moved around the coffee table toward one of the chairs. In his haste, his robes caught on one of her books. They both jumped as it hit the ground. Scorpius instantly dropped down to pick it up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see it…" Scorpius said quickly as he placed the book back in front of her.

"Score, don't worry. No harm done, calm down," Rose responded, reaching out a hand to cover his in an attempt to calm him.

He pulled away his hand at the contact. He had been startled by the shock he felt when she touched him. This was getting out of control. Rose frowned, put off by his behavior.

"What's going on with you?" Rose questioned, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I…can I talk to you?" Scorpius responded.

"Of course," Rose nodded and closed her book. She turned her attention onto him fully, "What's wrong?"

"Well, I…um, I," Scorpius sighed. Now he was the clumsy one, stuttering over his words. He plopped down in the chair, as he had originally intended, and took a deep breath. "I've been thinking about things…I, I just keep wondering what will happen after…after…"

"Hogwarts?" Rose prompted.

"Yes, after Hogwarts. And I think about you…"

"Oh, Score," Rose shook her head, "You don't need to worry. We'll still be friends."

"It's not that," Scorpius corrected, "It's just the future, you know? And it's going to be different no matter what we say. And I…I'm just afraid a little about…everything. And it's a scary thing. Am I making any sense to you?"

"No," Rose laughed. Gods, he loved her laugh.

"I'll try again," Scorpius replied, "Rosie, you've been my best friend since the day I met you. I can't imagine…you not being there. And I—"

Scorpius was interrupted as their portrait swung open and Albus Severus blew in. Both faces snapped up to watch him come in. Rose had given him the password because he was good enough of a friend to Scorpius and her cousin—a mistake on her part. Scorpius slumped back in his chair, a hand coming up to cover his face as he groaned. Albus had to have the absolute timing, _ever_.

Albus took in their reactions, and frowned, "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, Al. You weren't," Scorpius shook his head and stood up. He took the interruption as a sign. He wasn't supposed to do it. Not yet.

"But, didn't you have something to tell me?" Rose asked.

"It's not important," Scorpius lied. "I think I was worrying over nothing."

Rose smiled, "Okay."

"So…Do you two think you could help me study for Potions? I really need to do well on this if I want to be eligible for Auror training. My Dad has really cracked down on the standards for even entry level."

"Of course we can help," Rose nodded.

"Not that you need it," Scorpius sat back down, "I don't know how you manage it, but you're brilliant in Potions."

As Rose leaned over to point out a passage in a book to Albus, Scorpius watched quietly. He had missed his chance. He just hoped he might have another in the future.

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After Hogwarts, Rose entered into the Ministry of Magic, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures where her mother started out. But after a year of pushing papers and feeling as if her knowledge was being put to waste, she was beginning to think she would be of more service elsewhere—like the Department of Magical Law Enforcement where her mother ultimately ended up. Scorpius had taken the year off to travel, doing some odd international work for his dad every now and then. It was hard for him to be away from Rose so long _willingly_, but he felt he needed the space. They kept in touch and he would send her little trinkets from the places he went—things he knew she would enjoy. His year was up now, and he had returned to London. Rose wasn't aware of it just yet.

The first time Scorpius saw Rose upon his return she was coming down a row of desks, in her department at the Ministry, carrying a stack of files taller than her. It was an exaggeration, but she was wobbling under the weight just the same. His first thought was why a girl with her brains would be doing such grunt work after a year. Then she tripped, files and parchment flying across the floor. Scorpius was down on his knees to help her in a flash.

"Boy, boy does this scene seem familiar," Scorpius replied.

Rose looked up and as soon as she saw him a smile broke across her lips. She threw down the files she had collected already, sending it all scattered further, and threw her arms around his neck to hug him.

"Scorpius, you're home!" Rose exclaimed loudly. The force of her hug sending them both sprawled across the floor.

Scorpius hugged her back, smiling from cheek to cheek for the first time in a year—something only Rose could bring out of him, "It's good to see you too, Rosie."

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After Scorpius was able to pry himself out of Rose's arms and help her clean up the mess she had made, and they had done the necessary catching up, he was content to fall right back into the friendship they had before they left Hogwarts. Scorpius had thought about asking her out, but then he remembered the boyfriend she had mentioned in her last owl. He was okay with that. It wasn't the time yet. If they were meant to be together it would happen.

So as she told him stories of how she met the guy and how he was just the sweetest person she had ever met, he listened. And to fill the spaces between her stories, he told her his own stories about all the things he had seen around the world. He had told her all of these things in his owls, but to tell her in person, and to see her eyes light up in awe at all the amazing things he wished she could see for herself, was worth the extra effort. He was happy to be back and she was happy to have him back.

It seemed that his return had come at the right time, because barely two weeks after he had found Rose at the Ministry, her boyfriend broke up with her. One evening, Albus arrived at Scorpius's flat looking frantic. With a frown on his face, Scorpius let him in. Albus instantly began to explain about how Sean—Scorpius couldn't place the name until halfway into the explanation—had come to see Rose. Scorpius couldn't really make out what Albus said next he was speaking so fast and he was out of breath. The only thing that got through coherently was that Rose had taken off and they had finally found her at a muggle bar. No one could get her to leave and with all the muggles around they couldn't apparate her out. Scorpius grabbed his coat and let Albus take him to the bar.

When he walked in, he spotted her sitting at the bar. James was next to her trying to talk her into leaving. She seemed to have a mouthful for him each time he said something because he flinched away every time she spoke. She slapped his hands away when he tried to move her physically.

Scorpius turned to Albus, "Explain again what happened."

"James, Lily, Hugo and I were all at Rose's. It's our grandparents' anniversary in a couple weeks, we were planning a gift. So, Sean, the bloody bastard, suddenly apparates in with no warning and asks to speak to Rose in private. So she takes him back to her room and of course being the respectful relatives we are, we used one of Uncle George's Expendable Ears to listen in on every word. The prat _breaks up _with her—and with no finesse to speak of. He just says it right out 'I'm seeing someone else. Our relationship was beginning to bore me.'"

"So much for being the sweetest person she had ever met," Scorpius muttered.

"So by that point Rose is fuming and so are all of us. The next thing we know, he's stumbling back out into the living room. Rose had her wand on him and was yelling at him to get out. James and Hugo and I were ready to kill him for talking to her the way he had, but before any of us could do anything Lily hit him good. My mum taught her a mean Bat Bogey Curse." Albus laughed lightly at the memory of Sean running from the house.

"How did she end up here?" Scorpius asked.

"She was holding strong, but once Sean was out of the house, she fell apart. Before we could stop her she had grabbed her coat and apparated out. We weren't sure where she had gone. We thought maybe to you, or to her mum's, but then Lily told us about this bar. Apparently Rose and Sean used to come here. We checked here first because if she had gotten to you or Aunt Hermione's she would at least be safe. Sure enough, she was downing shots right where she is now. We sent Lily and Hugo home. James and I tried to get her to leave but she won't. You're our last resort," Albus explained.

Scorpius clapped him on the back, "Thanks, mate."

"Well we figured you knew her best, maybe you could talk her down," Albus shrugged.

"Yeah, I can," Scorpius responded.

James caught sight of them. He made sure Rose wasn't going to move and then headed toward them. "Thank God you two are here. You can take it from here. Rosie is exhausting after a few."

"I've got it," Scorpius assured.

James nodded and headed for the door. Albus and Scorpius headed to Rose. She was oblivious to their approach. Scorpius slid into the seat next to her. He gestured to the bartender and ordered a drink. Albus just stood back and hoped that Scorpius could get her to leave cooperatively.

Scorpius took a sip off his drink, "Talk to me Rosie."

Rose snapped her head up to look at him, "Scorpius!"

"What happened Rose?" Scorpius asked.

"Sean ch-cheated on me," Rose hiccupped slightly. "He told me I'm boring. I'll sh-show _him_!"

"Getting pissed does not make you exciting," Scorpius responded, "If that's what you thought."

"Am I boring, Score?" Rose whispered.

Scorpius swallowed the rest of his drink, "You are the most invigorating, amazing, exciting person I know. You are the farthest thing from boring, Rosie."

"D-Do you really me-mean that?"

"Of course I mean it," Scorpius replied, "I wouldn't lie to you, Rosie."

Rose scoffed, "Sean lied to me."

"Sean's a right git," Scorpius said firmly.

"Yes. He is. Sean's a…a…a not very nice person!" Rose frowned, "And he is _so_ not the sweetest p-person I've ev-ever me_t_."

"I think you're right," Scorpius nodded.

"_You're_ the sweetest person I've ever met," Rose responded suddenly, "Score…"

Scorpius turned toward her and the next thing he knew her arms were around his neck and she was kissing him. And even though this was everything he had ever wished for—this wasn't the right way. Scorpius gently pushed her away. She looked at him, confusion in her eyes. He shook his head.

"Let's get you home, Rose," Scorpius said. "Okay?"

"Okay," Rose agreed.

With Albus's help, Scorpius got her coat on and led her to the nearest place that was safe to apparate from. Once at her place, Scorpius began to guide her to her room. Oddly enough, she was moving smoothly. She didn't trip or stumble or run into anything the whole way.

Scorpius shook his head, "Of course you would be perfectly coordinated when you're drunk while the rest of us, who can walk without tripping over our feet, stagger around like raging buffoons after we've had one too many."

Scorpius got Rose into bed and once he was sure she was safe and sound, he went to face Albus. Albus was tidying up when Scorpius returned to the living room. Albus looked up to see Scorpius come in.

"She's asleep," Scorpius announced, "No harm done. Sean's done a number on her and she'll need a little hangover cure—you might want to brew her some—but she'll be no worse for the wear in time."

"So, I guess we're just going to forget about what happened at the bar?" Albus replied, getting directly to the point.

Scorpius took a deep breath, "It's for the best."

"Who's best?" Albus questioned.

"Everyone's," Scorpius answered as if it was obvious.

"Okay, go with me here," Albus started, "Whether Rose is going to remember tonight or not is unforeseeable, but if she does remember I doubt it would be best to act like it never happened. You'll hurt her."

"How would that hurt her?" Scorpius frowned, "It was a drunken mistake. _If_ she remembers she'll only regret it. If she doesn't, then it's all the better.

"Are you blind? Rose has been in love with you since…well, I don't know, she only told me how she felt in this past year while you were gone for so long, but it's been a considerable amount of time. Since Hogwarts sometime, I know that much. Nobody really saw it until the year you taught her to dance, but when you were dancing together everyone knew…"

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought I was pretty clear," Albus shrugged.

"Rose does not feel that way about me," Scorpius said.

"Yeah, and you don't feel that way about Rose," Albus responded. When Scorpius looked surprised, he added, "I'm not stupid, Scorpius, and _I_ am not blind. We might not be as close as you and Rose, but we are friend and I know you pretty well. I know you have feelings for her as well as I know she has feelings for you. I've been waiting for you two to get it together."

"No, you're wrong," Scorpius shook his head, "Rose would have said something."

"She might not have said anything directly, but she's been screaming it at you in other ways. Sean, for example, besides the fact that he's cheating low life scum and he looks nothing like you, he's the spitting image of you. He acts the same way as you, he talks the same way as you…He makes the same dumb jokes that you've made a hundred times before, which was bloody annoying," Albus explained, "The only reason she ever dated him was because he reminded her of you. Now I've said my part. I'm going to sit back and let everything run its course—because I'm tired of waiting for you two fools to pull it together. Goodnight, Scorpius. I'll send over some hangover potion in the morning."

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Right on schedule, Albus's hangover cure arrived just as Rose stalked into the kitchen. She had one hand to her forehead trying to ease the pounding in her head and to shade her eyes from the light filtering in through the window. She plopped down into her seat at the kitchen table rather unceremoniously and let out a groan as she let her head drop to rest against the cool wood of the table. Scorpius watched the whole thing from his place in front of the oven.

"Good morning Rosie," Scorpius said brightly. He placed the vial of potion in front of her along with a plate of food, "I made breakfast."

"I feel like I was hit by the Knight Bus," Rose moaned, and then downed the potion with a wince. She blinked her eyes a few times and was as good as new, "I guess I can thank Al for that."

"Yes you can." Scorpius nodded as he fixed his own plate and sat down next to her at the table.

"So, how much of a spectacle did I make of myself?" Rose asked as she started to eat.

"Oh, not much," Scorpius answered with a chuckle, "Though you did thoroughly exhaust James with your antics."

"Poor James," Rose frowned, "I'm sorry they had to get you. I'm sure you were busy with more important things than picking me up from a bar and sleeping on my couch."

Scorpius hesitated for a moment, but said what he was going to originally say anyway, "Rose, you _are_ my most important thing."

Rose swallowed hard, "Score…"

"I know. I know. I wasn't going to say anything, but then Albus got it in my head that you had feelings for me too and there it is, so…" Scorpius rambled.

"Al said something to you?" Rose questioned with her eyes wide.

"Yeah, but h—" Scorpius was cut off.

"_I'll kill him_," Rose muttered, "I _knew_ it was a mistake telling him how I felt about you. Of course he would blab. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't know and everything would be normal."

"Um, Rose," Scorpius spoke up.

"Yes?" Rose turned back to him.

"Albus aside, the fact that you kissed me last night was kind of a give away," Scorpius replied. "So, I wouldn't exactly lay all the blame on Al."

Rose blushed furiously, "I kissed you?"

"You did," Scorpius nodded.

"Oh God! I'm so sorry," Rose exclaimed.

Scorpius shook his head, "Don't be."

"Score, I had no idea…I would never have wanted our first kiss to be like that."

"For being sloshed, it was a pretty good kiss," Scorpius smirked and laughed lightly.

If possible, Rose blushed a deeper red and she hid her face behind her hand, "Oh God."

"Rosie, look at me," Scorpius commanded and Rose parted her figures to look at him from behind her hand. "Put your hand down." When she refused Scorpius reached over and took her hands in his. "Rose, I know the timing is so wrong. I mean you, literally, just got out of a relationship, but I don't think I can go another minute, let alone another year, without telling you that I love you."

Rose was quiet for a long moment. She was staring down at their intertwined fingers and at how he was gently stroking her hands with his thumbs. A smile began to form on her lips and when she looked back up at Scorpius she was positively beaming.

"I love you too, Score."

Scorpius grinned, and laughed at himself, "Rosie."

The next moment Scorpius found himself on the ground, not that he minded much. Rose had dived at him, her arms wrapping round his neck and her lips finding his. It had knocked him from his chair and they had toppled to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Rose and Scorpius both sat up to assess the damage. In her enthusiasm Rose had knocked both plates off the table and their breakfast now littered her kitchen floor. The chair Scorpius had been sitting in had tipped over backwards. After they had taken in the room and the mess they had made, they turned to look at each other and immediately burst out laughing.

"Now this," Scorpius spoke through his bouts of laughter, "this is more like what I imagined our first kiss would be like."

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Scorpius had seen Rose at her worst and at her very best—and all it did was make him love her more for it. He had no doubt that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her by his side. He would spend a lifetime cleaning up her ink spills, picking up her books when she dropped them, and giving her a hand up when she tripped. And he would never get tired of it. That was why, a year to the day Rose had tackled him in her kitchen, Scorpius proposed. Rose accepted almost immediately, matching his smile as she pulled him up to kiss her.

When she walked down the aisle, she didn't miss a step. She looked like an angle floating on air toward him. The whole time she was repeating a mantra in her head: "don't trip, don't trip, please, please, _please_ _God_ don't trip." As they said their vows, she prayed she didn't stutter on her "I do" and she didn't. Her voice remained clear, strong and steady throughout the entire ceremony. And when he kissed the bride, unlike many of the kisses they had shared, she didn't knock him over.

At the reception, for their first dance Scorpius took Rose into his arms. A familiar melody began to play, filling the air. Rose smiled as she realized just what it was.

Scorpius leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Let me lead and remember the count. One, two, three and four, five, six, seven and eight. You'll be fine."

"We'll be fine," Rose whispered back.

Like the first time they had danced this dance, no one could take their eyes off the pair as they moved in perfect synchronization. They made it look effortless. Besides the issue with cutting the cake, where Rose had pretended to trip to smash an entire slice in Scorpius's face which had resulted in him smearing icing across both of her cheeks, the entire day had gone off without a hitch, _remarkably_.

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When they returned to their flat after the reception, Scorpius followed the tradition and lifted Rose into his arms to carry her across the threshold. Everything was going fine. Scorpius was able to get the door closed behind them with a swift kick. He was able to navigate around their coat rack and an end table, but as he began to cross an empty space of their living room he tripped, sending both of them to the ground. The two of them couldn't help but laugh.

"I was waiting for _something_ like this to happen," Rose said while shaking her head slightly.

"Well it's us, what do you expect?" Scorpius responded.

Rose leaned down and kissed Scorpius lightly, "I don't think the day would have been complete without something like this happening."

"Hmm," Scorpius kissed Rose again, "I think you're right."

After a moment, Rose pulled away smirking slightly, "Who's the clumsy one now, Score?"

Scorpius looked shocked, his mouth falling agape, "You're going to go there?"

"I just did, didn't I?" Rose laughed lightly at herself.

"I'm pretty sure my track record is clean compared to yours, my dear," Scorpius responded, reaching up a hand to stroke her cheeks and draw her closer to him.

Rose leaned into him, "May I remind you of seventh year when you, the _eloquent_ one, couldn't even form a coherent sentence…"

"I believe there is a time for words a time when words are no longer necessary," Scorpius murmured quietly almost right against her lips.

Rose smiled softly, "And that wasn't a time for words?"

Scorpius caught her lips with his, holding the kiss for a lingering moment before pulling away to say, "I was referring to now…"

"Hmm," Rose let him kiss her softly on the lips and begin trailing kisses along her jaw and neck, "and people say _I'm_ the smart one…" Scorpius brought his lips back up to hers to kiss her soundly. She pulled away breathless, "You're right, less talking."

That night they didn't make it off the floor. And that was just fine for them, because let's face it, that's where they tended to end up most of the time anyway. In the end it didn't matter. They skirted the line between clumsiness and grace, but as long as they had each other's love they had absolutely no complaints to speak of. It was all perfection to them—because it was just the way their relationship was.


End file.
